Abstract:Heterogeneity is one of the important features of malignant tumors. MRI texture analysis (MTA) is a new imaging postprocessing technique to quantify heterogeneity of tumor. Increasing number of studies have shown that MTA is a potentially useful tool in tumor imaging, and can provide important and valuable information including tumor characteristics, prognosis assessment, prediction or monitoring of tumor treatment response, and so on. In this article, we review the literatures about MTA in evaluating heterogeneity of tumor. The correlation between MTA and tumor response to chemotherapy, prognosis and survival time, and the role of MTA as imaging markers in clinical practice are summarized, to further explore its potential in clinical application.

Key words:Neoplasms,Genetic heterogeneity,Magnetic resonance imaging,Texture analysis